[53296] in Cypherpunks
Re: "Contempt" charges likely to increase
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Frantz)
Fri Apr 5 17:07:27 1996
Date: Fri, 5 Apr 1996 13:26:16 -0800
To: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May), cypherpunks@toad.com
From: frantz@netcom.com (Bill Frantz)
At 11:57 AM 4/5/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote:
>If the secrets or assets _cannot_ be retrieved--a scenario which is
>possible, if the protocol is so written (clauses for court action)--then
>contempt charges are meaningless and would not stand, IMNALO.
The Black Unicorn indicates that if the reason the secrets _cannot_ be
retrieved is because they are in a jurisdiction which refuses to reveal
them when the owner is under compulsion, the owner can still be punished
for contempt (A contractual situation).
I don't know what would happen if they _cannot_ be retrieved for technical
reasons. If a communication key was aggreeded to be DH exchange and then
discarded, I would think this would be analogous to asking for a document
that was destroyed (before the subpoena) as part of a policy of destroying
obsolete documents.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Frantz | The CDA means | Periwinkle -- Computer Consulting
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